Falling Into Place
by bouncingzebras
Summary: Elizabeth McGuire leases out an apartment in New York, only to have the owner David Gordon return sooner than expected. When they have no choice but to live together, will he turn out to be the roomie from hell? LG
1. The Move

_Title: Falling into Place_

_Rating: PG-13_

_Summary: Elizabeth McGuire leases out an apartment in New York, only to have the owner David Gordon return sooner than expected. Will he turn out to be the roomie from hell?L/G_

_**Dedicated to my wonderful 'ghost writers'! You know who you are. Much love xx**_

**AN: I thank every one for reviewing my first story, 'If it Wasn't For You' . The reviews were _very_ much appreciated! For the people who wanted more stuff from me, here it is… hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 1- The Move

"Now Elizabeth, I think this is the place for you!" Astrid exclaimed cheerfully as she inserted the key into the keyhole and hastily turned the lock.

Elizabeth noted that this was the 7th time she'd heard that comment today, seeing as this was the 7th apartment she had seen all day. She was beyond tired now, and she was willing to just take any apartment that she saw. Unless…

… Unless she didn't like it. Which was the case for the last six places she had been to.

She was hoping that this place would be perfect so she could just go back to her hotel and indulge herself in a much deserved spa bath. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped into the place, she knew that she would be pampering herself in no time.

She knew she would have been pampering herself right now, if it weren't the cab driver's first day on the job. If he actually knew his way around Manhattan, he wouldn't have taken the wrong turn at the last street and Astrid wouldn't have wandered around the streets observing all the other apartments.

And if Astrid hadn't found the apartment with the _'For Lease' _sign out the front, she wouldn't have called the agent and asked if they could inspect, and if all of that hadn't happened, Elizabeth wouldn't be here in the first place.

"Wow, Elizabeth. Look at this. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms and oh, just look at this living room."

Even though she was beyond tired, Elizabeth was actually surprised at how different this place was compared to the others she had seen that day.

She paced around the room searching for any hidden faults that weren't easily seen and recited her observations slowly, "No loose floorboards, no visible cockroach or mouse droppings, no deadly stenches…"

Astrid gleefully smiled at Elizabeth, deciding that she might finally be coming around.

Elizabeth didn't really care if it wasn't flashy; she was satisfied with the gloriously humble feel to it. It was just the thing she was used to, back home in Hillridge. But there was something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something even more appealing about the apartment, which was telling her to lease the place in an instant.

She whirled around after taking another good look at the living room. "Astrid, I'll take it." She said firmly. As if it was possible, Astrid's smile stretched even wider.

"Well that's great, Elizabeth, if you're certain. Are you sure you don't want to take a peek at the other rooms first?"

Elizabeth smiled sheepishly. She had completely forgotten about the other rooms, due to the overwhelming feeling inside her that was telling her to stay.

"Yeah of course," she agreed, following Astrid into the bedrooms.

Each room seemed superbly modest and cozy to Elizabeth, which was exactly what she was after. After just only seeing the two bedrooms, she told Astrid she needn't see another room, but Elizabeth found there was no arguing with Astrid.

After inspecting all the rooms, Elizabeth had agreed to lease the place, much to the delight of Astrid, who was overjoyed that she had served another 'happy customer'.

"So I talked to the owner of the building, and he said he's willing to have you stay six months, apartment fully furnished, as long as no other alterations are made." Astrid explained to Elizabeth.

"Sure" agreed Elizabeth.

"I'm so happy for you Elizabeth. It's been such a long day, and I know how tired you are." Astrid mused.

Elizabeth nodded wearily. All she wanted to do was go back to her hotel and relax.

"Y'know what Astrid, I'll give you a call when I get back to the hotel. I'm exhausted."

Astrid nodded knowingly and took a hold of her client's hand.

"It was a pleasure helping you, Elizabeth. I know you'll just adore your time spent here."

Elizabeth forced a smile. She sincerely hoped Astrid would be right.

----------

The process of moving Elizabeth in to her new apartment was surprisingly quick. The owner, as it had seemed, was adamant about leasing out his apartment as soon as possible, which wasn't a problem for Elizabeth, who was just as keen to get out of that synthetic hotel.

It was about 5pm on a Thursday afternoon, the day that Elizabeth moved into her apartment. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten round to unpacking and hadn't managed to get herself settled in yet. Work at an unexceptionally early hour hadn't allowed her to do so.

So when she opened the door on her return home, she wasn't surprised to find that she could barely move an inch. She had taken a lot of her belongings with her, and the furniture movers had simply dumped all the furniture wherever they pleased.

She grumbled to herself and blamed the reason for their actions on their 'big city' attitudes. She seriously didn't know why she had decided to stay in New York in the first place. Ever since she first arrived she'd hated it, and nothing seemed to have changed her mind so far.

Frustrated and tired after a hard days work, Elizabeth didn't bother to unpack right away. She figured she would have plenty of other opportunities to do that. Right now, she just felt like staying in and ordering a pizza.

As soon as she changed out of her work clothes she dialed the nearby pizza shop and was about to settle in front of the television when the buzzer sounded.

"Boy that was quick." She muttered, thinking it was the pizza already being delivered to her door.

She quickly took some money out of her purse, ready to pay the delivery person and opened the door. She expected to see a pimply pizza boy dressed in an obscurely bright work uniform.

Instead, she was faced with a frazzled looking brunette dressed in simple jeans and t-shirt. As soon as the brunette saw Lizzie, she smiled wearily.

"Hi, you must be the person who's renting out David's apartment." The brunette began "I live just down the hall. My little sister is staying in my apartment at the moment, and being the little rascal she is, she locked me out."

"Oh" Miranda said, playfully smacking herself on her head, realizing she still hadn't introduced herself. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Miranda Sanchez."

"Elizabeth McGuire" Elizabeth answered, shaking Miranda's hand

"David has the spare key to my room, it's just under this mat here." Miranda pointed down at the mat Elizabeth was standing on.

Elizabeth smiled and moved out of the way so that Miranda could retrieve the key. Having been sufficiently lonely in the last few days, and not really having any friends down in New York, Elizabeth took this opportunity to get to know her neighbor.

"Would you like to come in?" Elizabeth offered.

"If you don't mind." She answered, seemingly glad to have been asked such a question.

"Not at all." Elizabeth stood out of the way to let her new friend in.

"Thanks, Elizabeth." Miranda said with a smile, walking into the apartment.

Miranda looked around the room in awe. "Wow, this is some place David's got here. It's almost twice the size of my apartment." She exclaimed.

Elizabeth smiled, loving the personality Miranda seemed to possess. She reminded Elizabeth of her brother, Matt.

Miranda whirled around and smiled at Elizabeth. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"I only just moved in this morning."

Miranda looked around at the closed boxes. "I can tell," she muttered. "But I meant how long have you been in New York?"

"A month. How do you know I'm not from New York?"

"You don't seem like a typical New Yorker," Miranda explained. "Not many would let strangers into their apartments."

"So where are you from?" Elizabeth asked, taking note of Miranda's apparent accent.

Miranda sat down on the couch, which was the only space that wasn't occupied with junk. "Mexico. That should explain the accent." She answered.

"How long did you live there?"

Miranda shrugged. "Until I was twenty. Then I came to live here. My parents sent my twelve-year-old sister to stay with me for the summer, just in case _she_ wants to come here too." Miranda shuddered at the thought.

"So how well do you know this _David_?" Elizabeth asked. Since she moved in here, Elizabeth had wondered what type of person he was, and judging by the lack of furniture and vibrancy to the place, she concluded that he seemed to be the type of guy who kept to himself.

"To be honest, I hardly know him." Miranda responded. "We only talked once when we decided to keep our spare keys in each others room."

Miranda seemed to think carefully about her answer. "But come to think of it, he seems to keep to him self a lot. And he's quite popular with the ladies, if you know what I mean."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "One of _those_ guys, right?"

Miranda nodded and giggled. "Men. What would they do without us, right?"

Elizabeth didn't really laugh at that joke. Although it was funny, it kind of stabbed her inside.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer. Knowing for sure that this time it was the delivery boy, she retrieved her money once again.

"Hey, would you like to stay for pizza?" She asked.

"As long as its got lots of cheese, I'm in." Miranda answered enthusiastically.

And somehow now, New York didn't seem all that bad to Elizabeth.

**AN: Am I the only one thinking that was probably the worst chapter ever written? Lets face it….the first few chapters are really hard to write and I had writers block for a while for this one. I know you guys may get confused about the Elizabeth/Lizzie situation and before you complain, I'm not 2 fond of the whole Elizabeth thing either but don't worry… she won't be "Elizabeth" for long… you'll see… **

**-popkornchicken**


	2. Surprise!

**AN: I realized I forgot to add a disclaimer in the first chapter… so here is it is now… **

**I do not own Lizzie McGuire or any of its characters, Disney does. I can say I own Astrid from the first chapter.**

**I only got5 reviews for the previous chapter --..well I kinda expected it. I'm hoping for some more reviews in the future…but hey, can't expect _everything_. Please drop a review, even if it is only a few words because it is VERY much appreciated --**

**Anyway… on with the story…**

**Chapter Two- Surprise!**

It had been almost a week since Elizabeth moved in to her apartment and she had seen Miranda almost everyday after she came home from work, yet today was a Sunday and Miranda went back to Mexico for the weekend, so Elizabeth was left with nothing to do. She had done all she could with her unpacking, and decided to move it all into her room.

That night she didn't have anything to do, and was gladly interrupted by her worried mom on the phone.

"No, mom, I'm fine!" Elizabeth said distressingly into the receiver, wrapping her finger around the phone chord.

"Liz, I'm not sure about you living in _New York _on your own." Jo spoke back.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, the way she and her brother Matt did whenever they thought their mom was being overprotective, especially now that they were both over twenty.

"Mom, I'm fine." She repeated. " Look, I'm twenty-five. There's no need to worry. I mean you were fine about letting me go."

"That's only because you were with Danny, Liz."

_Danny. _

That was one name she hoped she wouldn't hear for a while.

Elizabeth didn't want her mom to go any further, so she tried to wrap up the conversation as quickly as possible. "Mom I've got to go, ok? I've got lots of unpacking to do, and I have to be at work first thing tomorrow." She said quickly.

"Ok, baby, I love you." Her mom said in a disappointed voice. Elizabeth smiled into the phone, knowing how hard it was for her mom to have her only daughter thousands of miles away.

"I love you too mom." Elizabeth said, hanging up the phone. Instantly, she almost regretted ending the call so quickly. She really did miss her mom, since she was really the only person she felt like she could talk to.

Desperate for something to hold on to, she grabbed the phone off the table and held it in her arms, as if waiting for another call from her mom.

She looked around the big, wide apartment and felt so lonely. It was if the room wasn't big enough to contain her emptiness. She sank to the floor, and closed her eyes, just absorbing her own emotions and thoughts into her dreams, wrapping her arms around the phone, just for something to hold on to.

---------  
"I told you to settle it, Eddie." David yelled into the phone. His rage seemed to have passed on to the cab driver who swerved around the streets hastily.

David placed his cell phone against his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the driver. "Hey! Slow down! No need to get me killed, here."

The driver started yelling at him in a foreign language, but David ignored him and went back to his phone call.

"Look, Eddie, I don't care what the damn producers say. They made a deal, and you tell them they're expected to stick by it." He said, angrily hanging up the phone as the cab pulled over to the curb.

Recognizing this wasn't his street, David shot the driver another look. "Hey, my apartment isn't for another block." The driver returned his look.

"You walk." He commanded in his thick accent.

David was just too frustrated and tired to argue, so he unwillingly handed the driver some cash and got out of the cab, just relieved to get home.

All he did was focus on getting home, on relaxing and just taking a break.

Though unbeknownst to him, something was not going to let him.

Once he had reached the apartment, he automatically realized that something was different. And this was confirmed the moment he opened the door. Although everything was right were he'd left it, there was something he was not quite used to having around.

An unfamiliar petite blonde woman sleeping peacefully on the rug.

Suddenly, he remembered the small detail he seemed to have forgotten while on vacation. _"Oh crap!" _he thought, having completely forgotten he'd put his house up for lease.

As quietly as possible, he tiptoed to the blonde currently snoozing on his polished floorboards. He studied her carefully. He watched the way she used one hand as a cushion support for her head, and the other was wrapped protectively around the phone.

This was probably the first thing he noticed about her. The second might have been how pretty she was. He acknowledged that it might not have been a time where she was looking her best, but with her blond hair curving around her cheeks, she looked so adorable.

Clearly amused, David reached in his bag and brought out his camera. He pressed the button and the bright light of the flash instantly awoke the woman.

Startled, she stood up and instinctively backed up against the wall, away from the strange man.

"How the hell did you get in?" she asked intrusively.

David chuckled at the woman's apparent vulnerability.

"Relax, relax." He soothed. "I'm not some kind of stalker."

"How the hell did you get in?" she repeated, this time, more forcefully.

"I have a key." David explained, waving his key around for proof.

She did not seem convinced. "Where did you steal that from?" After no verbal response, but a cheeky grin from the strange man, Elizabeth picked up the phone she had left on the floor.

"You know what?" she asked, clutching the phone and thrusting it in front of him. "I'm going to call the police and have you taken out of my house, or I'll strangle you with this phone chord."

Once again, David chuckled at the seemingly despaired woman. "Well, I don't really think the police can help you much here." He said. "This is my place."

Elizabeth was beside herself with rage. She didn't even bother to listen to his clarification. "And what the hell were you doing taking my photograph? Are you some kind of pervert?"

"I'm sorry, but I walked in, and saw you sleeping on the floor like that. It was quite adorable. So I took a photo."

"Just like that? And who gave you permission to do that?" She was about to continue her fit of rage when she remembered something he had mentioned that had slipped her mind momentarily.

"Wait, you're the owner?" she said suddenly. "Aren't you supposed to be on holiday?"

David sighed, not wanting to get into this. "Well, I'm supposed to be, just a change of plan." He explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Elizabeth couldn't believe this guy. First he comes barging in without any warning, wakes her up by flashing a camera in her face, and then intrudes her personal space.

"Wait, hold on, you're not going anywhere." She yelled. David stopped from his way to the bedroom and turned to face Elizabeth.

"And why the hell not? " he asked, now annoyed.

"Because, _bud, _I'm entitled by contract to stay in this apartment for six months, which means, owner or not, that legally, you shouldn't be here. You're not allowed to stay here." She reminded him.

"Listen," he said angrily. "Like it or not, miss, I'm sleeping here because this is my apartment."

She walked over to him and pinned him against a wall, making sure he didn't move an inch.

"Look, I'm sorry that your trip in Bora Bora or wherever it was didn't work out. However that doesn't mean that you can come on in here whenever you like, especially when you had this apartment leased out."

Noticing that her reasoning wasn't getting her anywhere, she took the phone off the hook.

David smirked at the childishness he was able to see through the blonde woman. "Boy, you really do love that phone, don't you?" he muttered sarcastically.

Ignoring his remark, she started dialing a phone number, but was interrupted mid-way when David grabbed the phone from her and hung it up promptly.

"Who are you calling?" he asked calmly.

"I'mcalling my realtor, to let her know of my kind visitor." she grinned sarcastically at him, and reached for the phone, only to have the phone pulled from her hands.

"Only if you can reach this first," he teased. He hoisted the phone high up in the air, right where he knew she couldn't reach and stood there laughing at her pathetic jumps. She scowled furiously at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are? If you had enough decency, you would have at least gotten a hotel room."

"Sorry, babe, this is my apartment." He remarked condescendingly.

"Which, may I remind you, is rented out! To me, in fact. And I would really appreciate it if you would leave and never come back during these six months." She said, poking him sharply in the chest.

David sighed, defeated. "I can't, alright."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm broke."

She may have been extremely mad at this strange man, but when he uttered those three words, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. That was just the way she was. Still, she wouldn't let give in that easily.

"Nice try, pal, but you're going to have to do better than that."

David looked at her with pleading eyes. "Look, can we just make a compromise?"

She glared at him. "That's just fancy talk for a deal"

"We're on the right page then" he said with a smirk before continuing.

"Well, look, I have nowhere else to go, even though clearly you want me out of here. And you're right. I don't have any right to be here, but I had a hard week. I lost a good deal I was working on and all I want right now is to just spend some time in my apartment."

"So? That doesn't mean I'm just going to let you move back in." Elizabeth retorted.

"Well, you seem to be nice enough to help. Look here's the deal. You let me stay in my apartment and I'll let you stay in this apartment for as long as you want."

Elizabeth glared at him, and folded her arms impatiently. "You have terrible negotiating skills, you know that?"

He simply smirked. "Look, obviously we don't know each other that well, so we're gunna start from the top. I'm David Gordon." He said, outstretching his hand.

Elizabeth looked at it his hand like it was some vile creature and didn't accept it.

"Elizabeth McGuire." She said with hostility.

"Look Elizabeth, I'm sorry for barging in on you like this. I know that I seem like this bastard who gets what he wants but I've had a really tough couple of months and I would really appreciate it if you'd just help me out a bit here."

She nodded hesitantly, interested at where this was going.

"If you let me stay here, we could live here together. I mean, we would hardly be in each other's way. You just say the word and I'll be gone for half the day."

Elizabeth simply smirked. "Well you were right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"You _do_ seem like a bastard. What makes you think I'll agree with that? You walked in about five minutes ago and already your asking to move in with me? How do I know you're not some kind of psychopath?"

"You don't. But I know I'm not. Look, please give it a chance. One month. That's all it'll take." David looked at Elizabeth with pleading eyes, ones that Elizabeth just somehow couldn't resist.

"I'll agree if I'm allowed to set the rules around here." She said firmly, ashamed she let herself give in to him.

He agreed and she continued. "_One._ We may talk, if I initiate it. _Two. _We may _never_ use each others belongings unless entirely necessary, and _Three…" _She pondered for her answer, but couldn't think of anything.

She frowned in frustration. "I can't think of number three at the moment. Is that clear?"

David forced a smile. "Crystal Clear. May I please go to bed now?"

Elizabeth nodded and watched him enter his bedroom. Thankfully, it wasn't the one she had picked for herself. She stared back at the phone wondering to herself just what had she gotten herself into.

**A/N: I guess I should've explained it in the 1st chapter, but I may as well explain it now (hopefully you guys will be expert enough of LM to know) I guess its been a common story that Lizzie and Gordo gave each other their nicknames when they were kids, seeing as they've never met each other in this one, they're Elizabeth and David. Hope you liked the introduction of "David"…**

**R&R…u no the drill!**


	3. 200 Questions

**AN: Well heres chapter 3 folks, and i hope u enjoy. Thanks goes out to all who reviewed the previous chapter. I would give shoutouts, but i have like one minute remaining on this computer before my parents drag me out of this chair kicking and screaming,...LOL only joking! but i promise to do shoutouts in the next chap. Hope you enjoy! R&R!**

**Chapter 3- 200 questions**

Elizabeth's alarm sounded off at 5:30am the next morning. Not unusual for her, but it still took an effort to be able to get up in the morning. Especially now there seemed to be an unwelcome guest in the apartment.

After sleeping in for five minutes and preparing for her shower, Elizabeth allowed herself to tiptoe as silently as possible to the bathroom, but had to be sure that David was asleep before emerging out in her skimpy bath towel. She opened her bedroom door, clearly eyeing David's own bedroom door directly opposite her own. Seeing it was closed, she concluded he was still asleep.

Now that the coast was clear, Elizabeth strolled out of the door only to be interrupted by the person she had dreaded running into.

"Good Morning, roomie." David sang chirpily.

Having been caught completely off-guard, Elizabeth shrieked in fright. "What the hell are you doing up at this hour?" she asked him, her heart still beating rapidly.

"I would ask you the same question."

"I have work in about an hour." She answered. "But what about you? I _know _you don't have work."

He sank into the couch beaming at her pretentiously. "Why, my dear, roomie. Is there anything wrong about me merely enjoying peace and quiet in the morning?"

Elizabeth felt extremely annoyed at David's presence, and tried to make her way into the bathroom as quickly as she could, until she heard his voice ring after her.

"You know, if I had known there was a gorgeous blonde running around my apartment half naked, I would've put my house up for lease a long time ago."

Stopping midway in her tracks, she felt an impulse to just scream her head off. "Just where do you get off making comments like that? You are such an rude, cocky, arrogant jerk!" she yelled.

"While you, seem to be an extremely uptight, impossible, stubborn woman, who, might I remind you- is standing in the middle of _my_ living room, in nothing but a bath towel." David grinned as he savored the evil scowl Elizabeth shot him.

She decided she had truly had enough, and trotted dejectedly to the bathroom, flipping him the bird on the way.

"Love you too, precious." David called after her with a wink.

------------

Later that morning both had entered the kitchen, avoiding each other silently while preparing their breakfasts. David had just poured a large amount of Cheerios into his bowl and was searching the refrigerator for the milk.

"You seen the milk?" he asked Elizabeth

"Oh, I finished it yesterday." She answered vaguely, spreading jam on her toast.

David turned around to face her angrily. "And you didn't buy anymore?"

Elizabeth ignored his question and sat herself down at the table. David acted quickly by snatching her plate away from her, getting her full attention.

"You are not eating until you buy me some more milk." He said grinning with anticipation, expecting a similar reaction to the night before.

She looked up at him, not believing what he was doing. "What's wrong with you?"

He shrugged. "You finished it, so you buy more."

Deciding she didn't want to make this into World War III, Elizabeth simply got up from the table and walked around David to get to the refrigerator. As she got two fresh pieces of bread and popped them in the toaster, David stood, surprised at her calm reactions.

"Well aren't you gunna go get the milk?"

David stood, mouth gaping, unable to make a smart comeback like the night before. This _woman_ was ordering him in his own home. Who did she think she was? He'd never been subjected to such behaviour before. Normally the milk was there whenever he wanted it to be.

He tried to project a laidback demeanour but his perplexity became evident when he took too long to react. Elizabeth glanced at David, victory written all over her face.

Knowing she had won this round, she smiled triumphantly, took the toast that popped out from the toaster and placed it neatly on the plate, then made her way towards the table. David on the other hand, checked his pockets for the house keys and headed towards the door.

As he left, he could have sworn Elizabeth gave him a cheeky little wink.

-----------

It wasn't till six that evening that Elizabeth returned from work, with David awaiting patiently for her in the living room.

"You must be starved. Here, I made some Mac and Cheese." He offered, thrusting a bowl of Mac and Cheese in front of her. It had obviously been there for quite some time, as it looked limp and dry.

Although distant, Elizabeth thanked him before going back to her room to get changed.

Minutes later, she emerged wearing one of her brother's old oversized baseball sweats and bike pants. She sat down on the sofa opposite David's and quietly ate her Mac and Cheese while watching old _Friends _reruns.

Having about ten or so minutes of silence, David took this in his advantage to study her closely. He had recently come to a conclusion that there was something about her demeanor, that told him she had a rough couple of months. Also the fact that she was very subdued had given it away. He could imagine her as a type of wild-child back in the high school days.

Also her features were something that struck a chord with him. She kept her lips pursed as if afraid to speak her mind at tense moments like these. Although staring at her with the luminescent light from the TV set lighting up her eyes, he could tell it had been a while since her eyes had sparkled with delight.

Once the program had finished, he switched the TV set off and got up to turn the light back on, while Elizabeth took their empty plates to the sink.

"Y'know," David piped up, while heading back towards the couch "It's been about twelve or so hours since we had an argument, and around about twenty-four hours since we met each other. We're not doing to bad so far, are we?"

"Rule number one" Elizabeth sounded out.

David thought back to what Elizabeth had said the night before. "One. We may talk, if I initiate it"

"Hey, you can't ignore me forever." He called out.

"I can try." She called back.

He followed her into her room and watched her as she sat on her bed.

"Can we make this work?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Elizabeth laughed mockingly. "You make it sound like we're in a relationship."

David sighed in mock frustration as he sat down next to her on her bed. "Well, close enough, we're going to be living together. We can at least be civilized around each other."

Again, Elizabeth ignored him and walked over to her wardrobe. David swore he could hear her mutter "_Rule number one"_ under her breath.

"But hey, these awkward moments are nothing I can't change." He persisted. "I have the perfect solution."

Even though he knew he didn't have her full attention he continued with his plan.

"20 Questions" he said confidently.

Elizabeth quickly turned around and raised her eyebrows. Was he for real?

"What are you, in the third grade?" she asked incredulously.

"I ask myself that very question sometimes." He answered, patting his hand on the spot next to him.

She reluctantly sat down next to him, but slowly edged herself away from him. "And what exactly do you hope to achieve from this?"

He smiled. "Hopefully a more secure relationship between the two of us. And I want you to learn I'm not really the psychopath you think I am."

She agreed hesitantly. "But can we make this 10 questions?" she asked. After he agreed, she rolled her eyes and continued. "So what do you want to know?"

"Where did you live?" David asked.

"Hillridge, California." She answered back half-heartedly. He nodded with enthusiasm and continued.

"And are you an only child?"

"No, I have a younger brother, Matt."

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-two."

"How long have you been living in New York?"

"A month."

"Did you come alone?"

"No."

"Who did you come with?"

"A friend."

"Was this a male or a female?"

At this point, Elizabeth was starting to get frustrated at the probing he was doing.

"Is that question quite necessary?" she asked.

"Well, I just want to know if this close friend of yours who you moved to New York with was of the female or male kind." He explained.

Elizabeth hesitated with her answer and tried to answer with as little information as possible.

"It was a he." She muttered reluctantly.

"Ahh I see!" David exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. "And was this 'he' of yours a boyfriend, perhaps?" he asked cunningly.

At this, Elizabeth stood up abruptly. "Ok, this ends now. What is this? 20 questions or 200 questions?"

David chuckled, having no intention of leaving. "I'll take that as a yes."

She grumbled furiously. "Ok, out now! Before I throw you out." She commanded.

"Hey! I have a few questions left." He protested.

She tried yanking him up by the arm. "Screw that."

"Well don't you want to ask _me _any questions?"

Lizzie frowned at him. "Yeah, actually, how do you sleep at night?"

"Quite peacefully, thank you. Now how about asking me a real question? Come on, I won't ask you about your male friend again." David promised.

Knowing that this was the only way that she was going to get him to leave, she reluctantly agreed.

She wasn't really concentrating on what she was going to ask, so she just asked the first thing that came to mind, which was the first question he asked her.

"Um, where did _you _live?" she asked.

"Well, actually New York." He answered.

Elizabeth got a little interested, and decided she might press further. "You've lived here all your life?"

He nodded his head. "As far as I can remember."

"And you've lived in this apartment all your life?" she asked.

"Well yeah." He answered. "I inherited it from my grandfather. He owned a few places."

Elizabeth had now totally forgotten of her previous annoyance with David and pressed on. "It must get lonely being here by yourself."

"Well, I wasn't always by myself."

Now it was her turn to get even with him. "You mean _you _had a female friend here too?"

She watched as he looked down solemnly. It was obviously a topic he would rather leave alone. "Also something I wouldn't like to talk about."

Elizabeth nodded, somehow understanding of David's newfound quietness, and was sort of enjoying the peace, until David seemed to regain his spirit.

"So what's with Elizabeth?" he asked suddenly.

Elizabeth turned her head to him in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"

David shrugged. "I don't know. It's a bit long, isn't it? I mean what do your friends call you?"

Elizabeth stared at him strangely. "Um…Elizabeth?"

"What about your family?" he asked.

"Well my mom and brother call me Liz." She answered, not quite understanding what he was getting at.

"Well, I'm going to call you Lizzie." He stated, as if there was nothing she could do about it.

"Why?" she asked with a slight giggle.

"Because it's nice and short, and it suits you better than Elizabeth." He stated.

"Fine." She agreed. "But what about you? Surely there can be a better name than just 'David'" she said, grimacing at his name. "You don't like Dave, do you?"

"Hate it." He answered. "No Daveys either."

"Hmm…" she said, thinking hard. "Well, you're last name's Gordon, right?"

He nodded. "Well what about… Gord?" Lizzie asked.

David laughed hysterically. "As in pumpkin gourd?"

Lizzie laughed with him. "Yeah, your right. What about Gordo?"

"Gordo it is." He said, instantly liking it. "Hey, Lizzie, you've still got a few more questions left."

"Um, sure." She said, laughing despite herself. After loosening up a bit, she decided it might not be so bad living with him after a while. He did seem willing to get along with her, no matter how much of a bitch she was being to him.

"What do you do for a living, _Gordo?_" She inquired, emphasizing his new nickname.

"Um, I'm a director." He answered. "Not a very good one at that. Especially since the whole being broke thing. Though right now, it's the most important thing in the world to me. I'm trying my hardest." He answered.

"What about you, _Lizzie_, what do you do while you're not hugging phones?" Gordo asked, receiving a glare from Lizzie.

"Actually, I work at the New York News."

"A reporter?" he asked, intrigued.

"Um, actually I'm an advice columnist."

Gordo couldn't control the scoff that escaped his mouth, and the somewhat cruel remark that followed. "You're kidding, right?"

Lizzie shot him a look, slightly insulted. "What does that mean?"

"Well, I've been studying you lately, you kind of seem like the type of person who _needs_ advice, not one who gives it." He believed he was only telling her the truth.

"And what tells you that?" Lizzie was now unbelievably angry.

"Well, you mope around hanging onto phones, you won't tell me about a heartbreaking relationship you've had, and you don't always look like the happiest person on the planet." He answered.

She got up off her bed and walked over to face him. "You get out of my room now before I think seriously about hurting you." She said rather calmly.

"I was only telling you the truth." He answered, before letting himself out. He heard her decisively slam the door behind him and thought that maybe expressing his opinion wasn't the best move.

Meanwhile Lizzie was fuming at David's words, only deep down, she knew he was right. She knew she could never let him know what made her this way. She just had to get over it herself.

**A/N: This was actually heaps of fun to write but now I'm finding it hard to incorporate the Lizzie/Elizabeth and Gordo/David transitions, I hope you people won't mind if I start referring to them as Lizzie and Gordo now. I think we all agree that Lizzie and Gordo sounds much better than Elizabeth/David. Well R&R!**

**(that little purple button saying 'Submit Review' is getting pretty lonely…maybe he needs a friend!)**

**Have a fabolicious day!**


	4. The Setup

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Lizzie McGuire or its characters._

**AN: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! Been really confused with it says I have 14 reviews, but when I click on it only 10 of them show up, well at least I got the e-mails. Anyway, here are the shoutouts I was promising:**

**DearLizzie- **Thanks for the advice, I've been pretty busy with school to update, but I'll try to do it more frequently! Love your fics, by the way, they're awesome!

**Lostworld- **Thankyou so much for the review. You'll be seeing quite a fair bit of Miranda in chapters to come, and also this one, but I wasn't really planning to introduce Matt in, but now that I think about it…. You just might be!

**Dana- **Hey! No worries if you didn't review the previous chapters, and its just great to hear I have fans!

**anonymous reviewer T330- **mate, I'm just spreading the McGuire love around! Great review!

**Dario8676- **Thanks for the review, buddy!

**Curlz- **whoa! Weird review, even though you called me a freak (no offence taken), the review is much appreciated. Are you sure you know whats going to happen?

**carnyman- **Yes! A fellow Aussie! I am so happy I'm getting support from another aussie! Can't say I've seen or heard of "The Goodbye Girl" hopefully this isn't _too_ similar or I'll be in trouble :S

**Anonymous- **ah yes! Without you this story would be filled with mistakes and errors :P You sneaky little thing:P

**gabbyz!**- HAHA! Glad you could pull yourself away from msn to actually read my stuff!

**LyG4ever- **Pretty flattered that an experienced author like you could be bothered to read my stuff, absolutely adore your stuff!

**ali oldman- **Thankyou so much for all the reviews! Again, Happy Birthday for the 17th, and I'm glad you think of the characters that way, that was exactly what I'd hoped for.

**Burgirhig- **Thanks for the review, mate. I know how this can be confusing, sorry if you don't like that, hopefully you'll understand it soon. P.S. I love the real estate agent's name too:P Hope you like your character ;)

**Basically, I'm really glad I could have all this support behind me. Been constantly drowning in assignments and homework, so hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon... anyway on with the story!**

**Chapter 4- The Setup**

"He said _WHAT?" _Miranda said disbelievingly, almost dropping the box she was holding. "He has some nerve." Lizzie nodded, thankful that someone shared her opinion. It was a Saturday, the day after the incident with Gordo, and Lizzie had appointed Miranda to help her with some unpacking.

"So Lizzie, you're an advice columnist?" Ever since Miranda found out that her roommate had dubbed her Lizzie, Miranda had been insisting to call her by that name as well.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Don't you start too."

Miranda shook her head. "Don't worry, I think it's cool. Much cooler than a stuffy desk job like mine." Miranda started toying with the many clothes that Lizzie had spread out on her bed.

"So Lizzie," spoke Miranda, placing one of Lizzie's halter-necks over her shirt to test it out "I've been seeing this guy and-"

"Hold it right there." Lizzie interrupted firmly. "I don't do relationship advice."

Miranda looked at Lizzie in shock. "I'm surprised you even have a job. You don't get _any_ love advice at all?"

"Of course, but romance isn't really my forte." Lizzie said rather nervously.

Miranda stopped obsessing over Lizzie's clothes and turned to face her. " Let me guess. Bad past relationship." After Lizzie nodded, Miranda went into psychic mode. "Let me guess, he cheated on you for your best friend?"

Lizzie restrained herself from laughing. "No, my best friend and my boyfriend hated each other." She giggled to herself remembering all the times Danny and Kate used to argue. After thinking about it for a while she stopped. It hurt too much to think about him. She flung her head down and started fiddling with her fingers. Miranda placed her arm around Lizzie's back sympathetically.

"Hey, it's cool if you don't want to talk about it. Obviously he was some jerk who didn't deserve you anyway."

Lizzie looked up at Miranda and smiled with gratitude. She only knew Miranda for a couple of days, but already she was shaping up to be one of the best friend's she'd ever had.

Lizzie exited the room after a few more minutes to get some more boxes from the closet. She hadn't even got to the door until she heard the faint rattling of keys from outside the door. She watched as the doorknob was twisting and turning frantically before Gordo stumbled in with a woman. The woman's legs were wrapped tightly around his waist as he pushed her against the wall and kissed her furiously.

Amidst all the action, Miranda walked in to the room. "What's all this noi- whoa!"

Standing next to Lizzie, Miranda stood in awe as she watched her neighbor make out. She found it funny, and giggled silently. Lizzie on the other hand, was furious. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Had he forgotten he was sharing this apartment with someone else?

She cleared her throat sternly, grabbing the attention of Gordo, with his female friend still attached to his waist. He turned around and grinned at Lizzie and Miranda with lipstick smeared all over his lips.

Lizzie tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for some sort of response from Gordo. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The woman, who Miranda recognized as Angie the pizza girl released her legs around Gordo's waist and walked fiercely toward Lizzie, standing over Lizzie, a good couple of inches taller than her.

"It's called having a good time, sister. Clearly something you've never heard of." Angie muttered provocatively. Lizzie wasn't intimidated by her and glanced toward Gordo who had an amused grin plastered across his face.

"We are going to have a serious discussion about this later." She said through gritted teeth. "In the meantime, I want to see her out of here." She said, nodding toward Angie.

Gordo opened his mouth to say something, but was pulled away by Angie who headed straight for the door. "Come on baby, we can head back to my place." They slammed the door behind them and left Lizzie and Miranda in a fit of giggles.

"Whoa." Miranda exclaimed. "He does get around doesn't he? Do you think maybe next time he could get Angie to get me a free pizza?"

"If you're lucky, only by the end of the week." Lizzie answered, knowing that this little stint wasn't going to last that long.

Trying to get that incident out of their minds, Lizzie and Miranda spent the rest of that afternoon packing up Lizzie's things. Left with not much else to do, Lizzie offered Miranda to stay for a coffee. Lizzie hadn't said much after Gordo left, and Miranda kept thinking about the conversation they had earlier about Lizzie's ex.

"So." Miranda began, drinking her coffee slowly. "Do you think you'll ever start dating again anytime soon?"

"I guess." She knew that was far from the truth, but she didn't want Miranda thinking she was still some loser clinging on to her ex.

Miranda smiled gleefully and carried on with her coffee. "That's great."

Lizzie stared at Miranda, full of suspicion "Why do you ask that?"

"No reason." Miranda said, with a small smile tugging at her features.

"Miranda…"

"Yes, Lizzie?' Miranda glanced, looking as innocent as ever.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes at her friend, not seeing through the act Miranda was playing at. "What are you up to?"

"OK." Miranda said, taking Lizzie's hands. "Promise me you won't get mad." Lizzie decided it would be better if she didn't respond and let Miranda go ahead with her revelation.

Miranda breathed deeply and continued. "I kinda set you up on a date." She closed her eyes tightly and tried not to imagine Lizzie's angry gape, which was apparent when she decided to open them again.

"You did WHAT?" she exclaimed. "Miranda, there is _no way_ I am going out with someone I've never even met."

"I know, I'm sorry Lizzie. But you seemed kind of… lonely lately and I wanted to do something to help you, and I was talking to a friend and she said she knew a guy with a similar situation so I thought- 'Why not?'" Miranda paused after all that rambling.

"Wow." That was all that Lizzie managed to utter.

"So are you mad at me?" Miranda questioned, a sullen look upon her face.

Lizzie laughed at Miranda's expression "Well, you're making it a hard time for me not to be. What's the name of this guy anyway."

Miranda winced. "Well, you see, I kind of forgot to ask my friend that."

At this point, Lizzie considered her options. She knew Miranda was only trying to help, even thought it was in a particularly weird way. She knew she _had_ to move on from Danny, even if that meant going out with a complete stranger.

"So I'm going out on a blind date."

"That means you'll do it?" Miranda asked.

Lizzie wasn't sure. She never thought she'd end up doing it, and wasn't really keen on the idea. She contemplated the worst, and decided it wasn't worth fretting over. She just hoped that Miranda's friend had picked a suitable guy.

"Remember, I'm only doing this for you." Lizzie muttered, and was pulled into an embrace by her friend.

------

It was almost eleven at night and Lizzie was struggling to keep her eyes open. She wanted to be awake when she confronted Gordo about the incident with Angie. She had almost completely dozed off when Gordo came home.

"I've been waiting for you." She said, suddenly fully awake.

"You shouldn't have bothered." He answered with a smirk. "I'm fully capable of putting myself to bed."

"You know what I want to talk to you about."

Gordo rolled his eyes. He was expecting this. "What Angie and I did was just a little fun."

Lizzie was furious. "It may have been fun for you, but you seem to be forgetting that you are sharing this place with me."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed to bring anyone home?"

"Yes." She answered stubbornly, arms folded to show she was dead serious.

"That's not fair." He argued. His roommate's stubbornness was really getting to him.

"Oh, it totally is. I don't want you and your friends 'having fun' while I am in the next room. If you want to have some fun, do it at their places. Not mine." She said firmly.

"Okay then." He agreed firmly. "But this rule applies to you as well." Gordo knew that he would never have to see the day where Lizzie would bring someone of the opposite sex home.

"Fine." She agreed.

"So don't wait up for me tomorrow night."

"Don't worry. I won't be home either." She responded, taking Gordo completely by surprise.

"Does that mean Little-Miss-Lonely actually has plans?'

"It does."

"A date?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes I'm going out on a date, probably with someone equally as _messed up_ as me." She muttered angrily, referring to the argument they had the night before.

Gordo looked down at the ground, ashamed at his words. "Yeah about that Lizzie, I'm really sorry." Lizzie was taken aback by his response, thinking they would plunge into another raging argument, yet she was still angry and pressed on.

"What should you be sorry about? You were 'telling me the truth', weren't you?" she growled.

"I shouldn't have told you in that way."

She decided he was genuinely sorry. "Doesn't matter." She said with a dismissive wave of the hand, promptly followed by a yawn.

"I should go to bed." She said, quickly walking into her bedroom before anything else could be said.

**AN: Hmmm, I know that ended quickly, but I still have an English essay to do! That also means that i didn't have enough time to go and see if my grammar/spelling is okay, but i'm sure you folks can live if it isn't :P ( Anyway, Please submit a review! Peace out! **

-popkornchicken xx


	5. Blind Victims

**Disclaimer: **I think we all know by now that I do not own Lizzie McGuire. If I did, I would be writing the actual 3rd season episodes, and not these fics trying to make up for it lol.

**AN: Popkornchicken's lame (but valid) excuses for not posting sooner…not that anyone was complaining**

**I had a party to attend last Friday which finished at midnight (don't worry, no drugs or alcohol) but I was so drained and I was like a zombie the next day. I slept for the whole day, and had a massive headache & was poisoned by food ..so yeah, I became friends with my toilet bowl… LOL!**

**Me and my friend Joy (SHOUTOUT!) were being stupid the other week and decided to enter this competition sponsored by this children's magazine to meet Amanda Bynes, and go to the Australian premiere of _She's the Man. _And although it started out completely as a joke, we won (TWICE!) and me and my friend Gabby got her autograph and saw the premiere…so that demolished my weekend…plus number 1.**

**I had piles of homework…stupid 11th grade.**

**Yeah… so I don't have time for shoutouts but I will answer one question form a review which I feel is important to answer**

**Lara- No, in this story Lizzie and Gordo do not know each other. This is sort of an "alternate universe" story where Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda grew up seperatley but they all meet up with each other in this story.**

**Sorry I didn't make this clear earlier.**

**Lets get on with the show, shall we! xD**

**Chapter 5- Blind Victims**

"So what exactly do you wear for a blind date?" Lizzie asked Miranda on the phone.

"Um yeah, that's a tough one, it's not like you know what he likes on a girl."

Lizzie had taken over the living room and spread out all of her best outfits on the couch. She felt extremely mad at herself for making such an effort for someone she didn't even know, but she loved preparing herself for dates; even if it was to some guy she didn't know. Lizzie picked up two of her favorite dresses. They weren't too dressy, and not too casual.

"Hmmm…" she pondered, placing one of the dresses over her body, she looked at herself in the mirror. It was either the navy blue strapless or the yellow halter neck.

"Don't worry, Lizzie, I'll help you as soon as I get home." Miranda mumbled, hating to have to work on a Sunday. They both hung up, leaving Lizzie to continue to decide which dress to wear. God, why was she even trying?

At that moment, Gordo emerged out of his room, ready to head out the door when he spotted Lizzie with all her dresses sprawled across the couch, and her in front of the mirror with the two dresses.

"I'd go with the yellow." Said Gordo, interrupting Lizzie from her thoughts. She turned around to tell him to get lost, but before she knew it he had already walked out the door. She turned back to the mirror and studied herself again. She lifted the yellow dress against her body and sighed.

"_Yellow it is."_ She thought.

-----

That night, Lizzie found herself to be the only person at the restaurant who wasn't with someone else. Which, when she thought about it, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That way, it would be easier to pick out her date. Even though she was in a terrible mood, she felt partially excited at the prospect of the date, even if it was with a total stranger. She hadn't been out with anyone since…

…well since Danny.

And she was more than ready to move on.

But it was kind of hard at this stage when her date was nearly fifteen minutes late, and she was feeling particularly uncomfortable in the yellow dress. She was contemplating leaving when she saw a guy with a familiarly curly head enter the doors.

_Gordo._

She knew there had to be another explanation. Maybe he was meeting someone else, cause she couldn't see him with anyone else. Maybe he got lost. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

"_Yeah. That's right, Lizzie. It's a coincidence." _

She watched him intently as he scanned the restaurant with his eyes. She quickly looked at her menu, pretending not to have noticed him. She could tell he pinpointed her and watched him approach her.

"Well, well, well." She heard him say, voice dripping with fake enthusiasm. "What a coincidence that we meet each other."

Furious, Lizzie set down her menu and instantly glared at Gordo. "Don't even pretend you didn't have a part in this, you jerk."

Gordo shrugged. "I didn't have a part in this, I swear. A friend of mine set me up with you. I must tell you, she has good taste." He smirked, sitting in the chair opposite hers.

"Oooh, I am so _killing_ Miranda." She muttered. "So _she _planned this?" she asked.

"Who's Miranda?" Gordo responded genuinely. Lizzie decided that he was probably telling the truth that it was all a funny coincidence. But that didn't stop her from leaving. She promptly got up from her seat and headed toward the door as quickly as she could.

"Hey, wait!" Gordo called from behind her, and followed her to the door. She spun around hastily. "What?" she retorted.

"Look on the bright side, Lizzie. Sure nothing _romantic_ may spring from this, but at least we can resolve our differences. Plus, I hear the food is to die for." He gave her an assuring smile. She continued to ignore him and walked away.

This time, Gordo grabbed her on the wrist and walked her back to the table, without making people think that he was being too rough. He plonked her on her chair, and he made his way back to his own.

He picked his menu up. "Now, what should we order?"

Lizzie growled. Next time, it would be her turn to win.

------

It had been an hour, and not a word had escaped Lizzie's mouth, apart from ordering her meal and excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Gordo hadn't closed his mouth all night, and when he wasn't eating, he was saying whatever was on his mind.

"So Lizzie, I have an idea." Announced Gordo.

"It isn't 20 questions again, is it?" she asked sarcastically, using her spoon to play with the spaghetti she wasn't intending to eat.

He folded his arms impatiently and shook his head abruptly at her remark. "Lizzie, I'm serious when I say we should try to get along."

"Well you're not making things any easier." She replied. God, this had to be the worst date she had _ever_ been on.

"Lizzie, I'm sorry about the other night. About the things I said."

"Haven't we already been over this?"

Gordo shrugged. "I'm re-enforcing it. Plus I also want to apologize for being such a pain in the ass ever since you moved in. And also for that incident with Angie yesterday."

Lizzie figured that he was only apologizing so she would give in and talk to him, and it was kind of working. She wasn't quite sure of how to respond. She thought of giving him a piece of her mind, but instead she decided to keep it civilized.

"Its fine. I know I haven't been that easy to live with lately either. I've been a total mess in the past month."

"Well you're not alone there." He answered, mimicking Lizzie's gesture of fiddling with his food.

"Oh, Gordo. What is it?" Lizzie asked with concern.

"I just lost someone."

"_Gordo…"_

Gordo raised his hand, indicating her wasn't finished. "No, it's fine. I learnt to deal with it. But I was just as much as a wreck as you were…no offence."

Being enthralled in the conversation, she didn't even try to pretend to be offended. "None taken. Continue." She urged.

"Well, I confined my self in the apartment for days. I found myself going partially insane. I used to envision that Marina was still here with me."

"Marina?"

He paused. "I'll tell you another time." For a second, Lizzie could've sworn she was a slightly pained look upon his face. "I became excessively lonely. So I went back to work, which was the only good thing happening in my life."

"…and then you went broke." Lizzie interrupted.

"Bingo. But when I returned, and you agreed to let me stay, I was relieved I wasn't alone anymore, regardless of what a big pain-in-the-butt you could be."

Overwhelmed that he had actually revealed all of that to her, she finally began to convince herself that there was probably a more kinder and genuine side to Gordo that she hadn't realized was there.

She leant over the table, and whispered to him "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"You're actually not too bad."

He grinned and leaned back in his seat. "Glad you think so."

------

After they left the restaurant, Gordo insisted that they take a walk in Central Park before heading home.

Lizzie was surprised at how much fun she had on the date it almost scared her. She knew she wasn't interested in Gordo, yet she was very willing to be friends with him.

"Remind me to thank Miranda when I'm done killing her." Lizzie quipped.

Gordo smiled his debonair smile. "So you had a good time, eh?"

Lizzie nodded. "But don't get the wrong idea, mister. We are strictly friends."

Gordo stuck out his hand, in preparation for making a deal. " Strictly friends it is." Lizzie shook his hand and giggled promptly.

Gordo felt a gentle rain drop on his shoulder and decided to head home. "We should go before the rain gets in."

As they walked home, Lizzie replayed the date back in her mind. Not the best date she'd ever been on, but it was definitely up there. She thought of the several dates she'd had back when she was in high school, and even the earlier dates she had with Danny. They were all great but they all had one thing in common: awkward end-of-dates moments.

All the typical awkward date clichés, Lizzie had experienced it on almost every first date she ever had. Everything from whether or not to kiss goodnight, to 'should I call him the next day?'. But this time it was different. Sure it was a friendly date, but it was still a date. Yet the couple actually _lived_ together. Lizzie was definitely _not_ looking forward to the end of the date.

David had noticed Lizzie's uncertainties on their hurry back to the apartment. When they finally reached the door, he decided to pull her strings a little bit.

"We should do this again sometime."

She glared at him, and got her key and opened the door. They silently made their way up to the stairs. Lizzie and Gordo faced each other in the corridor right in front of their doors.

"Well.." said Lizzie, hating the uncomfortable silence.

They looked straight at each other, making eye contact.

"It was a good night." He commented.

She smiled nervously and began to open her door. "It sure was."

He followed her example and opened his own door. They smiled at each other, standing at their own doorframes. Lizzie broke the awkward silence by closing her door, which was immediately followed by Gordo.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned against its frame and confirmed that that was most _definitely_ the most awkward date she'd _ever_ had.

**AN: Some of you can read me like a book LOL, I suppose it's a little predictable…but I'll try and string it out a little. I really didn't like this chapter…it was so predictable and UGH! I hope next one will be better!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**-popkornchicken xoxo**


	6. Donuts and Elevators

**Disclaimer- **I do not own Lizzie McGuire or any of its characters.

**AN: Okay peeps, it has been a while. I blame that on my lack of motivation to complete the chapter. I would've thought that being holidays over here and all I would've done something. But I'm just trying to let the vacation feeling just soak in. Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for being so patient, and here are the shoutouts I promised:  
**

**AndieWitter or SSWBA- **Thanks for reviewing! Well, it wasn't mentioned in the chapter but a college friend of Miranda's who also knows Gordo (she's a waitress or something) set Gordo up with Lizzie. It was going to be in that chapter, but I deleted it coz it didn't fit in. Hope that clears it up for you.

**Chugs- ** Thankyou soooo much for reviewing, buddy! Yay! I'm so glad that I have found something in common with you (I'm talking about our "obsession") Lol! xoxo

**Auriela-** OMG! I LOVE YOU FOR REVIEWING! FINALLY! No I won't scream at you anymore, and I hope you're happy that I updated finally!

**Danni- **here's the update!

**Hillary moore-** I don't know how long till Gordo finds out about Lizzie's ex, but it will come soon. I'm sorta glad that you feel sorry for her, coz it means I'm writing it how I wanted to.

**cami- **yes indeed a romance will develop. Predictable, isn't it. Thanks so much!

**embracing- **OKAY! OKAY! OKAY! I'LL UPDATE! SEE?

**Flicia89- **whoa! You sure do pick up on things! Yeah, I got the idea for this fic from Just Like Heaven, obviously without any of them being ghosts. I loved that movie! Thanks for the review!

**Casey Harper- **thankyou so much for the review, and I'll try to update sooner

**Dario8676- **Great that you liked that chapter!

**ali oldman- **my most faithful reviewer! Glad you like the chapters!  
**OpHiDia- **Mate! You know how I feel about "poppy" lol. Don't worry, I have thought about your suggestion. It just might happen, my good friend.

**Burgirhig- **Lol. I'm not sure if you did, but I hope you liked your "character", coz I sure did like mine. I'm happy you decided to make a move on ur chapters, and I hope you will stop asking me when I will update:p

Okay, so there you go. Now, heres the chapter!

**Chapter 6- Donuts & Elevators**

"No. She never told me anything about it." Gordo fumed into the phone. Lizzie watched with amusement as his facial expressions changed from calm to sour, and could almost hear the squabbling that was coming from the other line.

"Well tell him I'm not buying!" he exclaimed flipping his cell phone shut.

"Bad day?" Lizzie questioned with a smirk.

David shrugged and lay down peacefully on the couch. "Don't even ask."

"What was that about?" Lizzie inquired, taking a quick bite of her apple.

"Just work stuff I don't really wanna deal with at the moment." He sighed. He had really wanted to start straight away with directing, yet with all the problems in management, there was no way that he could.

"Gordo." Lizzie began, twirling her hair absent-mindedly.

"Hmmm?"

"Do you mind if my advice columnist skills take over?"

"Depends" replied Gordo half-heartedly.

"I don't think you should wait for them to offer you something."

Gordo sat up and shot Lizzie a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Lizzie shrugged, with a little smile on her face. "You know… use your initiative. You never know where it can get you."

"Wow, this advice columnist thing must really work for you." He complimented, watching Lizzie get ready for work.

She smirked in reply. "Well, it helps to straighten out young good-for-nothing tragic cases like you." She joked, receiving a whack on the head from a pillow.

Lizzie pouted and walked toward the door. "You're going to pay for that later. And you'd better take my advice, mister."

------

It only took Gordo five minutes after Lizzie left to decide that he would take her advice. Thrilled with the idea that he could be making a sudden comeback in to directing, he hadn't even given it a second thought. As he got down to the sidewalk in the pouring rain, he noticed he wasn't alone. The tall, young brunette girl standing quietly beside him seemed strangely familiar. He could've sworn that she was giving him subtle sideway glances and equally suspicious chuckles. Both were waiting for a cab, and it was quite a while before a cab was successfully hailed. As Gordo was just about to get into the cab, he noticed the woman standing impatiently in the rain. He felt a little guilty leaving her there.

"Hey!" he called out to her. The woman looked up, surprised. "Want to share?" She smiled with appreciation and got into the cab next to Gordo.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Craft Enterprises." Gordo responded before turning to the woman, who seemed to look surprised.

"Me too." She answered, receiving an equally shocked look from Gordo. Once the driver started driving, Gordo decided to figure out who this familiar face was.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Gordo asked, studying her features closely.

The woman chuckled, but was obviously trying hard not to laugh. "Maybe."

Although frustrated, Gordo decided to introduce himself, hoping things would lead from there. "David Gordon." He said, offering his hand.

"Miranda Sanchez." She answered, shaking his hand. "Although I already know you, _Gordo._"

Gordo narrowed his gaze at Miranda. "Only Lizzie calls…" He stopped mid sentence as he remembered where he recognized her from and cringed.

"You were there when…"

"Angie." Miranda interrupted with a wide grin on her face, enjoying the grief this was causing him. Luckily for him, the cab driver had pulled up at the building, and Gordo was more than ready to escape Miranda. Walking into the building at an exceptionally fast speed, Gordo made his way toward the elevator, swiftly followed by Miranda. Gordo noticed that Miranda had pressed the button to take them to the 17th floor, which was the precise floor he was hoping to get to. Not liking his company, Gordo watched the numbers on the elevator light up one by one telling them which floor they were at now. They had just reached floor 9 when the elevator shook abruptly and then halted. This was not a good sign.

He watched as Miranda grabbed her chest in fright as the elevator shook. She shut her eyes tightly and gripped on the surrounding railings. As the movement stopped, she breathed in relaxation.

"Have we stopped?" she asked Gordo calmly.

"I think so." He answered, looking around at their closed in surroundings.

"Okay." Miranda whispered, still holding on to the railings. "How long do you think we're going to be stuck here?"

Gordo shrugged, hoping to say as little as possible. "Who knows?"

Silence covered the small elevator, until suddenly Miranda burst out into a fit of giggles. "What?" asked Gordo, slightly annoyed.

"This situation." Miranda spoke, between a fit of giggles.

"What about it?"

"Well it's kinda funny, isn't it?"

Gordo stared at Miranda as if she was the most insane human being he had ever been in contact with. "How can the two of us being stuck in an elevator together possibly be _funny_?"

"Well you were trying so hard to get away from me, and now we're stuck in an elevator together." She answered, returning to her previous laughter. And thinking over what Miranda had just said, Gordo couldn't help but laugh along.

------

Almost half an hour or so had passed. Miranda and Gordo were still stuck in the elevator. Neither of the two had uttered a word since half an hour before. Gordo was getting a little impatient. Miranda, on the other hand was getting extremely annoyed at Gordo. This guy had to be the most _boring_ guy on the planet, if not slightly cocky. It was definitely the Armani suit that stood out. The suit that shouted 'I'm All That!' She felt sorry for Lizzie to have to be stuck with this loser corporate wannabe.

Another shake of the elevator interrupted Miranda's thoughts. She shrieked a little, and Gordo chuckled in response.

"What, aren't I allowed to be startled?" Miranda retorted.

Gordo chuckled. He sensed the likeness she had to his roommate. "Hey, it's fine. Just a little shake."

Miranda glared at him. "Hey, I saw Angie the other night. I was kinda surprised that she was actually at work. Thought she might be working her shift elsewhere, if you know what I mean."

Gordo instantly liked Miranda. The snappy attitude that she seemed to possess was far from the neurotic one that Lizzie had.

"That was a good one." He said, sincerely impressed.

Miranda seemed pleased and brushed her shoulders in mock pride. "Why thank you, I try my best."

"See, you're a good influence on Lizzie."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with a person like you, and with a little influence from me, we can easily get little Lizzie out of her shell."

Right then, Miranda could sense the concern Gordo had for Lizzie. Both of them knew that Lizzie was a delicate person, especially since her recent breakup. But somehow Miranda knew that Gordo's concern was deeper than a concern for a friend. She thought seriously about teasing Gordo endlessly, but decided to keep it a silent secret between the two of them and promptly changed the subject.

"By the way, you didn't thank me for setting you two up the other night."

"What?" Gordo was unsure about what Miranda was talking about.

"You know, that little date that you and Lizzie went on a couple of weeks ago. I'm still waiting for the 'Thank You' gift basket."

Gordo vaguely remembered a name being mentioned on their date, but couldn't remember whether it was Miranda's or not. "So it was you." He glared.

Miranda grinned cheekily. "Guilty." She whispered. "But I had no idea that I was setting Lizzie up with _you_."

Gordo raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You mean to say that you setting up the two of us together was completely coincidental?"

Miranda shrugged, smiling proudly at Gordo. "What can I say? I'm that good!"

Gordo shook his head mockingly at Miranda, and watched as she reached into her purse and brought out a pack of donuts, which she ripped open and took one out gently, savoring the taste of the forbidden sweet.

"Why do I get the feeling that you carry around a pack of donuts on a daily basis?" Gordo asked.

"Well, you never know when you might need them, right?" Miranda answered with her mouth full of donut. She passed him a donut, which he accepted.

As Gordo munched on his donut, a thought crossed his mind and he turned to Miranda. "Say Miranda, how many donuts do you have left?"

Miranda's brow furrowed at Gordo's odd question. "Um... one. It was in a pack of three."

"And what were you planning to do with that donut?"

"Possibly get a camera and create a short film involving me and my donut." She said sarcastically. "What did you think I was going to do with it."

"Well I was hoping you would give it to Lizzie."

"Why?" Miranda asked, curious to see what this madman was up to.

"Well, me plus you, plus Lizzie equals three, right?"

"Wow, you're really impressive with your math."

Gordo frowned, frustrated at Miranda's inability to use her mind. "Well there are three of us, and three donuts."

Miranda laughed heartily at Gordo's proposition. "What do you mean? We have a little donut thing going on?"

"No, my dear friend," Gordo said teasingly. "What I mean to say is we form a little friendship group. Consisting of you, Lizzie and I, and all we do is talk about meaningless little things and eat through a three pack of donuts."

"What are you saying? Like a little apartment gathering?" Miranda said, smirking.

"No, like a friendship group, sort of like… the _Three Amigos."_

Miranda smiled to herself, comforted by the thought that she had secured friends, as soon as she reached in for another bite of her donut, another violent shake was felt and the elevator gradually began to ascend once again, as Gordo clapped his hands in victory. Miranda felt a smile creep over her face as she wiped her forehead.

"Phew, and I thought I was going to be the next one forced to share a confined space with you."

------

Several minutes later, once Miranda and Gordo finally got to the 17th floor, and had received many apologies from the technicians, they both proceeded to the main headquarters at _Craft Enterprises._

"So what are you doing here at _Craft_?" asked Miranda.

Suddenly remembering his purpose of going to the building, Gordo replied "I'm enquiring about a job."

Miranda tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Producing?"

"Directing."

"Oh." Miranda replied apprehensively.

Gordo was taken aback.** "**What's that supposed to mean?"

Miranda inhaled deeply. Gordo had no idea what was coming. "Well, Ethan's in charge of directors."

"Ethan Craft?" Gordo asked, recognizing the name.

Miranda nodded. "He's a tough cookie, you know, a hard one to crack. You gotta play your cards right or you're back on the streets."

Gordo nodded, and accepted Miranda's advice. "So what can I do to make him crack?"

Miranda shrugged. "Sorry, I can't really help you there. Being only his secretary, he doesn't really say much." Miranda could imagine the kind of thoughts running through Gordo's mind as his face appeared disappointed.

"Well," Miranda began, a smile appearing across her face. "I _did_ hear from Marcie down in producing that he really likes his alcohol. Hope that helps."

Gordo never thought he'd enjoy being stuck in an elevator with a girl he hardly knew. Walking towards Ethan Craft's office, he was glad he still had the ability to surprise himself.

--------

After his meeting with Ethan Craft, Gordo made his way home as quickly as he could, although traffic was murderous. Lizzie was waiting patiently at home for him with two bowls of Mac and Cheese. She heard the doorknob turn slowly and got up to greet him at the door.

"Where have you been all day?" she asked. "I've been waiting for you." Gordo grinned and took of his jacket.

"Well, I decided to take your advice."

Lizzie clapped her hands together in anticipation. "And…?"

Gordo grinned. "Well it wasn't easy, but with a little help I have secured an interview with Ethan Craft." Lizzie squealed and jumped up and down enthusiastically. Gordo thought the floor would fall through.

"That is great, Gordo! I knew with the right attitude you could do it. When is the interview?"

Gordo went around toward the table and grabbed himself a bowl of Mac and Cheese, which he ate gratefully. "Next week. You better not have anything else on."

Lizzie shot him a confused look. "Why do I have anything to do with it?" Gordo grinned. He found that she was so adorable when she was confused.

"I invited him over for dinner."

"What? Over here?"

"Yeah. I figured it would be easier for him to get to know me a little better. You know, feed him with the best food…"

"…And the best wine?" Lizzie interrupted, knowing Gordo's intentions. David nodded.

"Yeah, why not? Plus I get to show off my gorgeous roomie, what could be better?" Lizzie was glad that the lights were dim so that he couldn't see her blushing. "Okay, so keep the 6th free."

"That's good." She confirmed. But then she remembered the date. "Today's the 30th."

Gordo appeared puzzled. "So…?"

Lizzie grinned. "So Gordo, what were you doing on the 30th, one month ago?"

Gordo racked his brain. Remembering dates wasn't as easy for him as it appeared to be with Lizzie. "Um…I think I came back…from… Ohhhh!" he said, finally reregistering what she was talking about.

"Yes." She confirmed. "And do you remember what you said to me about a month ago?" she raised her eyebrow, and cheekily stole a scoop of Mac and Cheese, which Gordo had neglected.

"We would give it a month right?" Gordo responded.

"Yeah, and its been a month. So what do you say?" she said, hoping he wouldn't kick her out on the spot.

He furrowed his brow, pretending to think about it hard. "Hmmm, well I'm not sure…"

"Gordo." Lizzie urged, making sure he got to the point.

"Well I say we give it a few more. How much time do you need?"

Lizzie shrugged. She was definitely comfortable where she was. Annoying roommate, or no. She was already getting used to him. Plus, how could she part with the amazing apartment?

"Let's give it 5 more months. That should be plenty of time, right?"

"Great." He said, sticking out his hand, which she took into a shake. All Gordo could think at that moment was how much he was going to love the next 5 months.

"By the way Lizzie, how do you feel about donuts?"

**I feel really bad… I should be spending this time doing my English essay, creative writing story, preparing for my 5 upcoming tests and doing my maths homework. But homework be damned! If I had to choose, I would rather keep my loyal 'fans' (LOL) happy than my teachers…even though I know which is better in the long run...**

-**popkornchicken**


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